site.btaBNR Director General Mitev Comments on Experience of Attending 19th World Meeting of Bulgarian Media in Ukraine

Director General of Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) Milen Mitev said that the 19th World Meeting of Bulgarian Media, organized by BTA, was a very different experience. In a Facebook post, Mitev shared his experiences and meetings during the event.

"In the village of Kamchik (Zoria) we were welcomed with folk music and homemade banitsa by some wonderful people, from whom we can learn a lot about love and respect for the homeland," Mitev wrote.

He gies on to describe the beautiful streets of Odesa, filled with smiling young people, dark at night, filled with the hum of diesel generators during the day. The sea is inaccessible, as it is a dangerous area, already hit by missiles.

Mitev recalled how the concert that the participants attended at the opulent Odesa Opera and Ballet Theatre was interrupted by air-raid sirens. The evacuation took place calmly, in order, without panic "Probably to be expected, since these sirens are part of the daily life of the people here, from the lavish neo-baroque interior - to the bare underground bunker. No resentment, no aggression. Quiet superiority of will. The danger passed, the show went on. Art won, beauty won," Mitev contemplated.

The next day the delegation went to the Bolgrad High School, founded way back in 1858 and carefully maintained with lots of love by the Bulgarian community in Bolgrad. "We met brilliant students who dream of becoming students in Bulgaria. Here too the sirens caught up with us. And there was no panic here. Some of the students played chess, waiting for the anxiety to pass. For them this is everyday life. For those who have started school in the last two years, this is the only everyday life they know," Mitev said.

He stressed that the director of the school, Snezhana Skoric, and her team deserve great respect, as do the high school students. "I believe that their diligence, attitude and efforts will bear fruit yet," added the BNR Director Genetral.

Milen Mitev thanked BTA Director General Kiril Valchev for the opportunity to visit these places, to get to know the Bessarabian Bulgarians, to feel the unique atmosphere of this Bulgaria, located outside of Bulgaria.

"I also thank our wonderful compatriots with big hearts who continue to love Bulgaria, even though they are far from it," concluded Mitev.